Gluten-Free Apple Spice Bundt Cake

This Gluten-Free Apple Spice Bundt Cake is PERFECT for fall! With a blend of warm spices, plenty of apple, and a gorgeous tender texture, it’s amazing paired with caramel sauce or cinnamon sugar for a fun finish!

Pumpkin seems to get most of the love this time of year, and I get it! Pumpkin is DELICIOUS. I eat pumpkin recipes all season long. (Let’s be honest, we’re a pumpkin year-round family. There, I said it!)

But I didn’t want to let this season pass by without sharing a bit of apple love here on Sweets & Thank You. Our Gluten-Free Apple Bundt Cake is the perfect place to start. There’s so much to love!

• It’s Super Moist. Thanks to the applesauce, this apple bundt cake is remarkably soft and moist, though it’s still tender and light.
• There’s a Double-Dose Of Apple Flavor. We’re doubling up on apple flavor with fresh apples and applesauce. The end result is SO COZY!
• The Spices Are Incredible. The cozy aroma of this cake as it bakes will fill your entire house, and each delicious bite is laced with fall spices. It’s what makes this cake so amazing!
• No Fancy Flours Needed! If you don’t want to mess with mixing and matching a ton of different gluten-free flours, this is the gluten-free apple bundt cake recipe for you! I use quality measure-for-measure flour that keeps this recipe SIMPLE.

This simple recipe is basically the cake equivalent of a soft sweater or cozy blanket. It’s warm, comforting, and delightful in every way!

And best of all, all that magic starts with just a few simple ingredients…

Start With Simple ingredients

Beyond the flavor and texture, the only thing that can make this gluten-free apple spice cake better is how simple the ingredients are! Let’s take a look:

• Gluten-Free Flour. Like I said, we’re keeping things SIMPLE with a measure-for-measure gluten-free flour blend. We love and recommend King Arthur Measure-For-Measure flour, but if you use another gluten-free flour, like Bob’s Red Mill, make sure it contains xanthan gum! Almond flour, coconut flour, oat flour, etc. will not work in this recipe.
• Warm Spices. A blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves adds warm, cozy flavor!
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder. For the perfect softness and puff.
• Salt. To balance the flavors.
• Butter. Softened butter should still be slightly cool to the touch, but should easily indent when gently pressed with your finger.
• Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar. A mix of brown and white sugar gives you the perfect flavor and texture.
• Eggs. Room temperature eggs blend in best!
• Vanilla. Plenty of vanilla extract. Always!
• Unsweetened Applesauce. Applesauce adds moisture, fluffiness, and apple flavor. Don’t use pre-sweetened or flavored applesauce here.
• Grated or Chopped Apples. We recommend firm, sweet-tart apples that are good for baking, like Honey Crisp apples or Granny Smith apples.
• Spray Oil & A Pastry Brush. For greasing your bundt pan. This is a must!

My Favorite Bundt Pan

Need a bundt pan for this apple cake? This one’s my go-to. It bakes evenly, is easy to clean, and has a pretty, but simple design, which means it’s less likely your cake will stick!

SHOP OUR PICK

How To Make Gluten-Free Apple Bundt Cake, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

Start With The Cake Batter

1. Preheat. To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine flour (scooped and leveled or weighed), cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until well blended and set aside.
3. Cream Butter & Sugars. In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Beat 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
4. Finish Wet Ingredients. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to fully incorporate each egg before adding the next. Then, add vanilla, and beat until incorporated.
5. Assemble The Batter. Add 1/2 cup of applesauce and mix for a few seconds, then add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix to incorporate. Add remaining 1/2 cup of applesauce and mix in, followed by the remaining 1/2 of the dry ingredients. Mix *almost* all the way (with just a few dry spots remaining).
6. Fold In The Apples. Add grated/chopped apples and fold them into the batter (there should now be no dry spots of flour remaining)

Bake & Decorate The Cake

7. Mix Up Cinnamon-Sugar. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp. sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon and whisk to combine. You’ll use this to help line your pan. (You probably won’t need all of it, but you’ll need to work quickly, so it’s nice to have plenty to work with.)
8. Grease Bundt Pan. Spray the sides, center and bottom of the bundt pan generously with 100% oil spray or brush oil on with a pastry brush. Pay extra attention to any folds, curves, or indents of your pan and don’t miss the center column. Sprinkle 1-2 Tbsp. of cinnamon sugar around the inside of the bundt pan, trying your best to coat the center column and all those nooks and crannies in the pan. Tap the pan to distribute the sugar if you need to. (You likely won’t need all the cinnamon-sugar)
9. Fill The Pan. Scoop the cake batter immediately into the prepared bundt pan and smooth out the surface with a spatula. Gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
10. Bake Bundt Cake. Then, bake cake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until the interior of the cake reaches 200 degrees F throughout, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs. (Check the center of the cake, as well as the top) Note that the cake will be a very deep golden color—it’s not burned! 
11. Cool & Turn Out The Cake. Remove the cake from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto the cooling rack or your cake stand to finish cooling. If adding cinnamon-sugar coating, brush melted butter onto the still-warm cake right after turning it out of the bundt pan and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Work in small sections at a time so the sugar sticks better! 
12.  Serve & Store. Let cake cool completely before cutting and serving. When you’re ready, serve this cake with warm caramel sauce or buttermilk syrup, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, etc. Store leftover cake covered in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days or freeze up to 2 months.